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Plean Community Council
MINUTES
19th June 2023
6pm at East Plean Primary School
Attendance and Apologies
In attendance: Zoe Nolan (Chair and minute taker), Will Silvestro (Vice Chair), Scott Richardson (Secretary &
planning contact), Bob McWilliam (Treasurer), Catherine Ann Robertson, Leah Easton, Neil McCambridge,
Councilor Brian Hambly, Sharon McGrouther (Community Development Officer) and Lorna Bryson (local
resident). No apologies were received.
The chair opened the meeting by welcoming Brian, Sharon and Lorna.
There were no declarations of Interest in items of business on the Agenda. The chair noted that there are no
minutes from the last meeting as this is the first real meeting of the new community council. As a result of that
there are no matters arising from the last meeting, (when we voted on office bearers and discussed the
administrative processes of a community council) to discuss.
It was noted that the booking of the school for the meeting seemed to not be complete as there was no janitor
booked to set up or to lock up after the meeting. Scott kindly set up on his arrival and organised for the school
cleaner to come back and lock up at the end of the meeting.
Action Point:
Zoe will contact Stephen Bly (Community Council Enquiry Co-ordinator) at Stirling Council to ensure
we have future meeting venues booked.
Treasurer’s Report
Bob reported on the limited choices (Lloyds or Bank of Scotland) for setting up a new bank account and the
council agreed to go with Bank of Scotland. Sharon stated that possibly there was an existing community
council account that had been opened with Clydesdale bank (now Virgin Money) that may still have a balance.
There was some discussion around who could be contacted to find out the relevant information about this.
Sharon produced a file that the council had with details of the account. Bob agreed to look into this and report
back. All agreed that a new account should be set up with the Bank of Scotland. Scott updated on the start-up
grant from the council however due to the possible existence of funds this could not be progressed at this
time.
Action Points:
Bob to investigate the previous bank account and report back.
Bob to progress the application for an account with Bank of Scotland.
Depending on the existence of funds, Scott to contact the council again regarding the start-up grant.
Speed Bumps on Main Street & Visit from ETNZ Committee to Old Plean
The meeting discussed the response from the community to the new speed reducing measures on Main Street
and specifically the nuisance created by the height of the speed bumps. Bob explained some background to
the original consultation and has drawings from then showing the bumps as 50mm above street level. What
has been installed is in fact more than 100mm above street level and possibly a contravention of road traffic
regulations. All are concerned about noise, especially when an HGV goes over these bumps, there is concern
about the ambulances who are transporting patients to FVRH and there is real concern around the safety of
crossing at the informal raised crossing points on the bumps. We agreed that at least the middle of the three
raised crossing should be preferably a Pelican Crossing but at least a Zebra crossing to make it safer.
At the ETNZ visit last week, the Stirling Council Road Department representative Karen Fraser, indicated that
the council are planning to install another zebra crossing at the church as they believe this will slow the traffic
in that part of the village, we unanimously agree that this is not the case, the frustration caused by the speed
bumps has already increased the speed past the primary school to the end of the village and the two current
zebra crossings have not made any difference to that. Questions were asked why the council are not consulting
the village on this as it would make far more sense to provide a proper crossing at the shops. Brian said he
thought there was consultation about this new proposed crossing but no-one attending the meeting had heard
of any consultation.
The Chair of the Community Council will hopefully be invited to the next meeting of the ETNZ in September
along with the local resident Wendy McAlpine, who raised the original petition and will be able to report back
to the community council.
Community Ownership Fund
Bob informed the meeting of the Community Ownership Fund that had been discussed at a recent Inspiring
Communities Area Forum event attended by Will, Leah and himself. This fund is part of the UK Government’s
Leveling Up Scheme as is available to communities who wish to fund the purchase of assets that would
otherwise be lost to the community. We discussed the possibility of using this funding (and our ability to raise
‘match funding’ in creative ways) to purchase the old community shop from Stirling Council and Bob was able
to report that Steven Clark expressed an willingness to meet with either Plean’s Voice or the Community
Council regarding this. Sharon and Brian both suggested expressing an interest in a community asset transfer
to Tracey Mills at Stirling Council.
Action Point:
All agreed that Bob should take this forward with his contacts in the council
I have added a link to more information on this Fund here Community Ownership Fund Round 3: how to
express your interest in applying - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Lorna asked what the community shop would be used for and expressed an interest in a drop in centre for
younger Plean residents. This was discussed along with the possibility of using the office space for records for
both the community council and Plean’s Voice. It was proposed that it could be a place for Elected Members
to meet with local residents, visiting services like Citizens Advice, somewhere to display and electronic notice
board and many other uses.
Report from Councilor Hambly
Brian explained that there is normally a section of the agenda set aside for an update from Councilors that
attend community council meetings. He also stated there should also be an agenda items for an update from
Police.
Action Points:
Zoe to ensure future agendas include items for local councilors and police.
Brian updated further on the visit from the elected members on the ETNZ to Old Plean and stated that the
views of residents of the village were definitely ‘heard’. Brian explained about the current Scottish Government
consultation in to 20mph zones (I have added a link to further information about this here Our Actions for
2022 - 2023 | Transport Scotland). Brian stated that take aways from the visit included road marking and
signage improvement, the cutting back of greenery restricting visibility and the safety issue around crossing the
road to gain access to the eastern gate of Plean Country Park. Brian explained that it is important that the visit
is not seen as a resolve to the issues raised in the original petition and that the petition should not be negated
but rather left live until the community feel the issues have been addressed sufficiently.
Brian also reassured the meeting that the elected members had all noted the objections from residents of
Plean to the height of the speed bumps causing a noise issue and to the danger of the raised ‘informal’
crossings when children are crossing the road.
Brian also noted that he has heard that we reject the idea of another zebra crossing at the church and will pass
that information on.
Brian explained about Stirling Councils Place Plan and encouraged the community council to take part in the
process. I have enclosed a link to the information here Local place plans - Resource hub | Stirling Council.
Balfour Centre charging for rates for weekends is still in discussion and Brian will continue to push for a resolve
to this. Sharon informed that she too is still on the case regarding the increased cost of using the Balfour
Centre at weekends when there is a key holder present and no need for council staff to attend.
Brian highlighted an issue with the primary school playground following his walk around with the parent
council recently. There are more than 12 steps up to the play area with no landing separating them and no
railing at the top, Brian will be progressing this further.
Any other competent business
Neil asked for an update about claiming the piece of land where the old club used to be. Bob explained to the
meeting about the plan for a ‘community hub’ that had been in discussion between Stirling Council and the
NHS. Bob stated that it now seems likely that the NHS will press ahead with the plan to ‘purchase’ the land to
build a new Health Center without the addition of the Stirling Council part of the plan. We discussed
ownership of the land and routes that could be taken to have the land brought into community ownership
however as there are no living trustees from the original trust and a lack of interest from the previous two
church ministers (who were automatically trustees), it seems that the NHS plan will be successful as it would fill
the requirements of the original trust and that the community does not have the resources to take ownership
anyway.
Neil raised the issue of the state of the new ‘flower beds’ that were created in Main Street when the speed
reducing measurers were put in. Catherine Ann informed the meeting that she had had a discussion with
someone who was weeding them the other day. The man explained that the green she could see he was
weeding around was in fact Periwinkle, a ground covering evergreen perennial not a weed. There was some
discussion that it was not particularly attractive and that we may in the future look to replace or supplement
these plants with something more appealing.
Neil also raised the roadworks that have appeared this morning at the junction with Glen Road, Cardrowan
Road and Main Street, should the village be notified of upcoming road works? There was some discussion
about this and how sometimes it is not possible to give advance notice of emergency works. Zoe asked if there
was a similar system in place to the planning one where community councils could be notified of planned
works. Sharon suggested this was worth raising as a question to our CC Enquiry Co-ordinator.
Action Point:
Zoe to ask Stephen if there is a process for road work notification to local communities.
Questions from the floor
Lorna thanked the team for setting up the community council again and expressed her happiness that there
were now more things happening in the village since the incorporation of Plean’s Voice, the community council
and other informal groups.
Lorna raised a question about holding a family New Years Eve Ceilidh in the Balfour Centre. All agreed this
would be a great addition to the programme of events for the village and Catherine Ann suggested Plean’s
Voice may be able to help with it as there are key holders amongst the trustees and Plean’s Voice will have
public liability insurance. Lorna stated that she thought this could be a bring your own bottle (and food) event
rather than a licensed event that sells alcohol and food. Sharon stated that they may be an issue using the
Balfour Center as community centers are closed over New Year. She was asked why we could not use it if we
had key holders in attendance and stated that this was because if alcohol is being consumed the council
require two caretakers in attendance which is unlikely to be possible due to council staff holidays.
Action Points:
Sharon will check to see if there is any way around the caretaker rule.
Zoe to raise the use of the community center on New Year’s Eve as a question to Stephen Bly.
Catherine Ann to speak to the trustee’s about the possibility of helping set up and run a New Year’s
Eve event at Plean’s Voice next meeting on Monday 26th June.
Date of next meeting
We agreed to meet next on 18th of September at 6pm and thereafter on the 3rd Monday of every month
excepting December, July and August.
Action Point:
Zoe will update the meeting schedule and forward it to Stephen Bly at Stirling Council.
Zoe will type up and circulate the minutes of the meeting to the community councilors for approval
at the meeting on 18th September.
Zoe thanked all for their attendance and closed the meeting.